Sex Offender Found With Child Porn: Police

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Keith DePastino,a registered sex offender, was arrested after more than 1,000 images of child porn were found his computer, according to police.

Police have arrested a sex offender accused of having more than 1,000 images of child porn on his computer and trying to contact people online through Facebook, which is in violation of probation for a prior sex assault conviction.

A probation officer contacted Wolcott police on Tuesday to report that a man he supervises, Keith DePastino, 51, of Wolcott, had violated the terms of his probation.

In 1988, DePastino was sentenced to 40 years in jail, suspended after 30 years, for a conviction on two counts of sexual assault in the first degree, two counts of sexual assault in the second degree and two counts of risk of injury to a minor for incidents in Southington, according to police.

He was released from prison on Sept. 14, 2009 and terms of his probation included not entering or participating in any bulletin boards, instant messaging or chat rooms of any type, and to also not accessing any website that contains sexually explicit or sexually stimulating material.

On Dec. 20, his probation officer received information that DePastino had a Facebook account and had been trying to contact people online, according to police.

On Jan. 23, Wolcott police learned that DePastino’s computer contained close to 1000 images that depicted young children, male and female, engaging in various sex acts with adult males and females, as well as posing in a lascivious manner, according to police.

At 8:15 a.m. on Friday, police arrested DePastino at his home. He was charged with possession of child pornography in the first degree. Bond had been set at $100,000 for those charges.

DePastino was also charged with violation of probation and bond for that charge was set at $250,000.

Police said the case is still under investigation and it is possible that more charges will follow.

Police said this is not the first time that DePastino had violated the terms and conditions of his probation since getting out of prison. On Oct. 29, 2010, he was charged with violating the terms and conditions of his probation after visiting a park and a baseball field in Meriden, officials said.